


The Tay Bridge Disaster but it's Hallelujah and also Allstar

by KashkaMashkaL



Category: The Tay Bridge Disaster - William McGonagall
Genre: All Star, Inspired by Music, Inspired by Poetry, Shrek - Freeform, Song: Hallelujah, bridge gets fucked hard by wind, shrek is to modern culture what The Tay Bridge Disaster is to 1879
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2021-02-01 07:31:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21439690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KashkaMashkaL/pseuds/KashkaMashkaL
Summary: Inhammer, I don't even know who you are, but I stumbled upon cnoocy's Latin translation (which is so fantastic btw, that this is dedicated to you too, cnoocy, you made me weep) and that led to me to all these wonderful fics about this masterpiece of English literature, all dedicated to you, and I thought I might add to the Akashic Records.
Relationships: tay bridge/wind
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	The Tay Bridge Disaster but it's Hallelujah and also Allstar

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lnhammer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lnhammer/gifts), [cnoocy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cnoocy/gifts).

> Inhammer, I don't even know who you are, but I stumbled upon cnoocy's Latin translation (which is so fantastic btw, that this is dedicated to you too, cnoocy, you made me weep) and that led to me to all these wonderful fics about this masterpiece of English literature, all dedicated to you, and I thought I might add to the Akashic Records.

The Railway Bridge at Sil’vry Tay,  
Alas, I so regret to say,  
That the world’s now less by 90.  
Last Sabbath day of ‘79,  
That day will live for a long time,  
The cursed day we lost the railway Tay Bridge

Railway Tay bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Ta-a-a-ay-a-ay Bridge

Twas seven and the world was dark.  
The wind was whistling like a lark,  
And the rain was coming down in curtains  
The clouds were emptying their load  
And the demon in his usual mode,  
Said “Time to go and down the railway Tay Bridge”

Railway Tay bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Ta-a-a-ay-a-ay Bridge

Oh the train was leaving Edinburgh,  
Nobody was expecting woe,  
But Boreas was cooking other plans  
The passengers began to quail,  
They felt a sudden need to wail,  
“Oh God, just let us cross the Railway Tay Bridge”

Railway Tay bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Ta-a-a-ay-a-ay Bridge

But while approaching Wormit Bay,  
The wind-god brayed an angry bray,  
And shook the central gurders of support.  
Last Sabbath day of ‘89,  
I will repeat it one more time,  
It was the day we lost the railway Tay Bridge. 

Railway Tay bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Ta-a-a-ay-a-ay Bridge

The train sped on with all its might,  
And Bonnie Dundee hove in sight,  
As the passengers prepared for a disaster,  
They hoped to live ‘till the new year,  
And hold the ones they loved so dear,  
But alas they died upon the railway Tay Bridge

Railway Tay bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Ta-a-a-ay-a-ay Bridge

Remember this, I’ll say again  
Sabbath day — it happened then  
The day the central girders crashed away.  
For when it reached the halfway mark,  
The train no longer held its arc,  
And tumbling, it left the Railway Tay Bridge!

Railway Tay bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Ta-a-a-ay-a-ay Bridge

90 lives were taken then,  
But they’ll live on in what I pen,  
Even if children of the future will forget.  
The catastrophe came to be known,  
The alarm from mouth to mouth was blown,  
“My god, they’ve downed the Railway Tay Bridge!”

Railway Tay bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Ta-a-a-ay-a-ay Bridge

A train that came from Edinburgh  
Filled people’s hearts with deep sorrow,  
And reflected fear upon their sheet-white faces.  
This Sabbath day of ‘79,  
Because nobody did survive,  
No-one could tell their tale about the Tay Bridge.

Railway Tay bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Ta-a-a-ay-a-ay Bridge

It must have been an awful sight  
Witnessed in the dusk's moonlight,  
The angry fiend of storming laughing wildly  
Along the Railway Bridge of Tay,  
Oh, ill-fated Bridge of Tay,  
I’ll sing some more about the Railway Tay Bridge

Railway Tay bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Ta-a-a-ay-a-ay Bridge

And now it’s time for me to end,  
And for this message out too send,  
A lesson on the virtues of construction.  
Good construction is in such demand,  
And as says any rational man,  
There was great need of buttresses to support the central girders of the Railway Tay Bridge

Railway Tay bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Ta-a-a-ay-a-ay Bridge

Remember kids this lesson here,  
And turn to me attentive ears,  
This is about what you should do with buildings.  
The stronger we our houses build,  
The less it’s likely we’ll be killed,  
And we won’t fall like did the Railway Tay bridge

Railway Tay bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Tay Bridge,  
Railway Ta-a-a-ay-a-ay Bridge

///

Somebody once told me the Tay Bridge was collapsing,  
It’s builders should have used sharper tools.  
It was looking quite unsturdy with unsupported central girders  
And alas, it was weak to the wind-fiends.

Well, the train was coming and the air was humming,  
Fell to the ground — the design had shortcomings,  
Didn’t make sense to be built this way,  
And now there’s a problem with the Bridge of Tay.  
So much to fix, like buttresses,  
They could have supported the girders.  
But now there’s just death and despair  
90 lives up in the air.

Hey now, it’s the Sabbath, and the year’s 79.  
Hey now, what’s that howling, high-velocity winds  
All the passengers died. Only good construction holds the load.

It’s a cold night, and the water is colder,  
This disaster affected train-ticket holders,  
The architect couldn’t create a good structure,  
There was a big hole in his blue-prints and pictures.  
The rails that they rode were getting pretty weak,  
The water was too cold and the passengers shrieked.  
I am in mourning, how ‘bout you?  
Let us take a moment for the passengers aboard

(music stops; silence for a moment; then, we hear the wind howling — it sounds similar to wailing; this is a multi-layered and metaphorical sound; gradually, it morph into sick beats; music resumes)

Hey now, it’s the Sabbath, and the year’s 79.  
Hey now, what’s that howling, high-velocity winds  
All the passengers died. Only good construction holds the load.  
Hey now, it’s the Sabbath, and the year’s 79.  
Hey now, what’s that howling, high-velocity winds  
All the passengers died. Only good construction holds the load.


End file.
